Cooking Program Feature
Main Ideas
BSA has created updated versions of the Troop Program features for Scouts BSA. The Cooking program feature is available in digital format on the BSA website or can be purchased as a publication from you local Scout Shop.
The Cooking program feature teaches Scouts how to make their favorite food and discover new recipes for use at home and at camp. Scouts learn the satisfaction of preparing their own meals. The Cooking program feature includes some general information and some more specific ideas for meetings:
- Learn how to safely prepare and store food
- Understand the nutritional content of food
- Learn about different spices
- Find out about different cooking methods: bake, broil, boil, pan-fry, stir-fry, deep-fry, microwave, roast, simmer, steam, and stew
- Consider special cooking events in their troop: family cooking day, Dutch oven competitions, food field trips, cooking as a fundraiser
Troop Meeting Ideas
Suggested troop meeting ideas are grouped by essential, challenging, or advanced. Here are a few you can see in the guide.
- Learn the basic components of cooking: time, ingredients, recipes, cookware, heat sources , technique (essential)
- Consider how the basics can be used for a dinner menu (essential)
- Review the dinner menu (challenging)
- Prepare a dessert (advanced)
- Learn about safety and burns (essential)
- Learn about safe food handling (challenging)
- Study the My Plate model (advanced)
- Plan a full menu for a weekend campout
- Learn basic methods of cooking (essential)
- Run a station to teach others a cooking method (challenging)
- Run stations for Dutch oven cooking and backpacking cooking (advanced)
Games and More
There are also several games suggested in the Cooking program feature to keep things interesting at your troop meetings
- Flapjack-Flipping Relay
- Cooking Kim’s Game
- What’s Cooking?
- Potato Peel Relay
- “Chopped” Camp Style
The plan even provides Scoutmaster’s minutes and ceremonies for meetings.
Cooking Program Troop Outing
Then there is the “Main Event” for the Cooking program feature. Once again, there are suggestions for essential, challenging, or advanced. Details and planning aids can be found in the online guide.
- Cook at a main event (essential)
- Hold a cooking competition (challenging)
- Cook without pots, pans, and utensils (advanced)
More Resources
Find some related helps and achievements for the Cooking Program Feature below.
Dutch Oven Cooking: Tips and Recipes
Dutch oven cooking is one of my favorite ways to make meals and desserts at camp. Put the ingredients in, put some charcoal on the top and bottom, come back later, and voila! you have a delicious dish. Do you have a Dutch oven recipe you’d like to share? Contact me and I’ll share it.
Foil Pack Dinners
The most typical foil pack ingredients are ground beef, potatoes, carrots, and onions. But don’t get stuck in a rut! Try some new combinations.
Favorite Recipes for Scouts and Camping
I love to cook, both at home and at camp. Here is a list of the recipes on my site. Try some of them while doing the Cooking program feature. Do you have a recipe you’d like to share? Contact me and I’ll share it.
Easy Recipes for Camp Cooking
Camp cooking can offer some challenges, but it can also be very rewarding. Many people stick to hotdogs and hamburgers at camp. But it is easy and fun to get a little more creative. So here are some recipes to put in your camping cookbook.
Trail Food
When you are on the trail, you don’t have a way to keep food cool and you want something which will provide energy, will travel well, and is lightweight. Trail mix is a popular trail food and there are many possible combinations. Or with a small trail stove, you can heat something up with water.
Cooking on a Stick
The easiest method of cooking at camp might be cooking on a stick. No muss. No fuss. No cleanup. 🙂 So here are a few recipes and ideas for cooking on a stick Do you have a cooking on a stick recipe you’d like to share or a photo? Contact me and I’ll add it here.
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